Economics: Business Cycles and Economic Growth

You build on the course ‘Inflation, Interest Rates and Unemployment’. The aim is to understand the fluctuations of the economy and its long-term growth. You gain an understanding of how economic policy affects developments and the interaction between GDP, inflation, interest rates and unemployment. The course provides you with an understanding of business cycles and long-term growth. You will learn to analyse how macroeconomic variables such as interest rates, inflation, unemployment and GDP interact. You will study how aggregate demand for goods and services is determined and how it depends on the price level. You will also examine how aggregate supply is determined in the short and long run, and how it is influenced by the price level. By understanding supply and demand, you will gain a simple yet effective model for determining GDP and the price level. This model can be used to analyse the effects of economic policy. You will also study the relationship between inflation and unemployment (the Phillips curve), as well as how interest rates are determined in an economy where central bank monetary policy plays a crucial role. You will explore the causes of cyclical fluctuations (economic upturns and downturns) and models of long-term economic growth. You will examine how monetary and fiscal policy affect cycles and growth, and how global factors such as trade and capital flows exert influence. The course will give you a broader understanding of the economy as a whole. You will gain deeper insight into the role of the Riksbank in society and how its decisions affect interest rates and inflation. You will also develop a clearer understanding of the advantages and disadva